August 28, 2011

Blade & Soul, ArchAge and LIFT Delayed to Early 2012

According to Korean media, there is a big possibility that players' long-awaited MMORPGs Blade & Soul, ArchAge and Lift will be delayed to the first half of 2012.

"The open beta testing of Blade & Soul has not been confirmed, but we're aiming for this year," NCsoft's legal representative Kim Taek Jin once said.

"Currently, we're not sure that Blade & Soul can be launched this year. But even if there is any delay, we won't keep players wait long." NCsoft's Vice President Lee Zai Ho said at the Q2 Results Announcement on August 17.

According to insiders, at the soonest, Blade & Soul which is currently under development by NCsoft, will enter into open beta testing at the end of December. The open beta testing schedule is yet to be determined by the outcome of the second CBT.

"After completing the second CBT, currently we have no further plan for Blade & Soul," said Bae Jae Hen who is in charge of the development of Blade & Soul.

According to the information released on the official site, the second CBT for Blade & Soul will start from August 29 through September 10.

CJ E&M is scheduled to launch open beta for LIFT in the first half of 2012.

"Currently, U.S.-operated LIFT undergoes a large-scale update every month. We're not sure whether to use the original version or some updated version. And the open beta testing schedule is also likely to change," revealed some CJ E&M staff.

CJ E&M has made arrangement for promoting its online games in the latter half of 2011. It seems they are not in a rush to publish LIFT.

A super large-scale CBT for ArchAge was carried out in April. Around 5000 players participated in the testing. It is estimated that there may be great difficulties for it to be published this year.

"We're planning to carry out more than two CBT before going into OBT. And there is no arrangement for the fourth CBT," revealed XL GAMES staff.

"The game market requires online games at full completion and of high quality. It is suggested that game development companies not bring their games into the market in a hurry. It's better to do that when they are fully ready," said an industry professional.